Letters to the Editor for March 15, 2013

Published: Friday, March 15, 2013 at 6:01 a.m.

Last Modified: Wednesday, March 13, 2013 at 11:39 p.m.

Honor all women

U.S. Rep. Ted Yoho besmirched the Constitution in his weak attempt at explaining such a poor vote against the Violence Against Women Act (Sun, March 12). Understanding American history should be a requirement to be in Congress.

Men like him took the country by force from the true Americans and continue today to define who should be considered Americans. Perhaps Yoho and his staff need to go back and learn why tribal courts exist in the first place and other factors pertaining to reservations.

It is clear that Yoho's personal views will continue to cloud his vision. The job is to represent all, not just a group that believes in your narrow-minded view of the 3rd Congressional District. Diversity is not a word in his vocabulary.

This is not about you, congressman, it's about the people. Remember you would not be here if it wasn't for a woman. Honor women regardless of race or orientation.

J.R Gaillot,

2012 Democratic nominee,

3rd Congressional District

Covering their tracks

Contrary to The Sun's March 3 editorial, Gainesville Regional Utilities does not deserve credit for making the best of a bad situation by overcharging customers to hide the true rate impact of the overpriced biomass contract — the largest and worst contract in the city's history.

That's like giving a compliment to the Wall Street insiders who created the financial crisis in October of 2008.

The city's ordinance on the GRU fuel adjustment is straightforward but it has been misused in an attempt to cover up the giveaways to Gainesville Regional Energy Center, its investors and Wall Street bankers from the overpriced biomass contract. Now commissioners want to cover their tracks.

Debbie Martinez,

Gainesville

Pressing problems

I just have to comment on all the hoopla over sign holders and spinners. What is the big deal? Who are they harming?

These people are usually smiling, waving and spinning. They give many of us the simple pleasure of seeing happy and enthusiastic working humans.

I would think the city, county and code enforcement would have more important issues to deal with than this. It angers me that my tax dollars are being used to pursue and prosecute such a trivial matter.

Please put more energy, time and money to tackle Gainesville's more pressing problems, which are numerous.

Stephanie Pierce,

Gainesville

Natural selection

Frederic Lussky's attempt (Sun, March 8) to revive intelligent design as the engine of evolution not only misunderstands the laws of physics and the science of self-organizing systems, it also assumes life (or biology) is “progressing,” or has reached a state of perfection based on his programmer's view of what intelligence might mean.

The variety within genetic material (DNA) in its dance with an always changing environment will dictate survival and progeny. It's called natural selection. About 99.9 percent of all species that have ever existed are no more. Would that be a result of faulty design?

As Lewis Thomas once said, “The capacity to blunder slightly is the real marvel of DNA. Without this special attribute, we would still be anaerobic bacteria and there would be no music.”

William Scott Billings,

Alachua

There is a creator

In response to recent letters, evidence for a creator can be found in the scientific facts contained in the Bible.

A few examples: the Bible states that the Earth is round (Isaiah 40:22), is suspended in space (Job 26:7), that there are springs in the sea (Job 38:16), that light can be divided (Job 38:24), that the sun moves on a circuit (Psalm 19:6), that the universe is wearing out (Isaiah 51:6, Hebrews 1:11), that the oceans have currents (Psalm 8:8), that there is a water cycle (Amos 9:6, Job 38:27-28 ), that air has currents (Ecclesiastes 1:6) and has weight (Job 28:25), and that each star is unique (1 Corinthians 15:41).

These facts were written thousands of years before we had the scientific capabilities to discover them and provide reasons to believe the Bible is true. There is a creator.

<p><b>Honor all women</b></p><p>U.S. Rep. Ted Yoho besmirched the Constitution in his weak attempt at explaining such a poor vote against the Violence Against Women Act (Sun, March 12). Understanding American history should be a requirement to be in Congress.</p><p>Men like him took the country by force from the true Americans and continue today to define who should be considered Americans. Perhaps Yoho and his staff need to go back and learn why tribal courts exist in the first place and other factors pertaining to reservations.</p><p>It is clear that Yoho's personal views will continue to cloud his vision. The job is to represent all, not just a group that believes in your narrow-minded view of the 3rd Congressional District. Diversity is not a word in his vocabulary.</p><p>This is not about you, congressman, it's about the people. Remember you would not be here if it wasn't for a woman. Honor women regardless of race or orientation.</p><p><i>J.R Gaillot,</p><p>2012 Democratic nominee,</p><p>3rd Congressional District</i></p><p><b>Covering their tracks</b></p><p>Contrary to The Sun's March 3 editorial, Gainesville Regional Utilities does not deserve credit for making the best of a bad situation by overcharging customers to hide the true rate impact of the overpriced biomass contract — the largest and worst contract in the city's history.</p><p>That's like giving a compliment to the Wall Street insiders who created the financial crisis in October of 2008.</p><p>The city's ordinance on the GRU fuel adjustment is straightforward but it has been misused in an attempt to cover up the giveaways to Gainesville Regional Energy Center, its investors and Wall Street bankers from the overpriced biomass contract. Now commissioners want to cover their tracks.</p><p><i>Debbie Martinez,</p><p>Gainesville</i></p><p><b>Pressing problems</b></p><p>I just have to comment on all the hoopla over sign holders and spinners. What is the big deal? Who are they harming?</p><p>These people are usually smiling, waving and spinning. They give many of us the simple pleasure of seeing happy and enthusiastic working humans.</p><p>I would think the city, county and code enforcement would have more important issues to deal with than this. It angers me that my tax dollars are being used to pursue and prosecute such a trivial matter.</p><p>Please put more energy, time and money to tackle Gainesville's more pressing problems, which are numerous.</p><p><i>Stephanie Pierce,</p><p>Gainesville</i></p><p><b>Natural selection</b></p><p>Frederic Lussky's attempt (Sun, March 8) to revive intelligent design as the engine of evolution not only misunderstands the laws of physics and the science of self-organizing systems, it also assumes life (or biology) is “progressing,” or has reached a state of perfection based on his programmer's view of what intelligence might mean.</p><p>The variety within genetic material (DNA) in its dance with an always changing environment will dictate survival and progeny. It's called natural selection. About 99.9 percent of all species that have ever existed are no more. Would that be a result of faulty design?</p><p>As Lewis Thomas once said, “The capacity to blunder slightly is the real marvel of DNA. Without this special attribute, we would still be anaerobic bacteria and there would be no music.”</p><p><i>William Scott Billings,</p><p>Alachua</i></p><p><b>There is a creator</b></p><p>In response to recent letters, evidence for a creator can be found in the scientific facts contained in the Bible.</p><p>A few examples: the Bible states that the Earth is round (Isaiah 40:22), is suspended in space (Job 26:7), that there are springs in the sea (Job 38:16), that light can be divided (Job 38:24), that the sun moves on a circuit (Psalm 19:6), that the universe is wearing out (Isaiah 51:6, Hebrews 1:11), that the oceans have currents (Psalm 8:8), that there is a water cycle (Amos 9:6, Job 38:27-28 ), that air has currents (Ecclesiastes 1:6) and has weight (Job 28:25), and that each star is unique (1 Corinthians 15:41).</p><p>These facts were written thousands of years before we had the scientific capabilities to discover them and provide reasons to believe the Bible is true. There is a creator.</p><p><i>Carlos Javier Rosaly,</p><p>Lake Butler</i></p>